YMCA event will showcase dangers of texting while driving

Anita Bruney demonstrates a virtual realty simulation as part of AT&T's ongoing IT CAN WAIT campaign to raise awareness about the dangers smartphones play in distracted driving at the Conroe Family YMCA, Wednesday, June 21, 2017, in Conroe. Visitors to The Woodlands Family YMCA at Branch Crossing can take part in the virtual tour tomorrow. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott recently signed House Bill 62, which will ban texting while driving across the state when it goes into effect Sept. 1. less

Anita Bruney demonstrates a virtual realty simulation as part of AT&T's ongoing IT CAN WAIT campaign to raise awareness about the dangers smartphones play in distracted driving at the Conroe Family YMCA, ... more

Photo: Jason Fochtman, Staff Photographer

Photo: Jason Fochtman, Staff Photographer

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Anita Bruney demonstrates a virtual realty simulation as part of AT&T's ongoing IT CAN WAIT campaign to raise awareness about the dangers smartphones play in distracted driving at the Conroe Family YMCA, Wednesday, June 21, 2017, in Conroe. Visitors to The Woodlands Family YMCA at Branch Crossing can take part in the virtual tour tomorrow. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott recently signed House Bill 62, which will ban texting while driving across the state when it goes into effect Sept. 1. less

Anita Bruney demonstrates a virtual realty simulation as part of AT&T's ongoing IT CAN WAIT campaign to raise awareness about the dangers smartphones play in distracted driving at the Conroe Family YMCA, ... more

Photo: Jason Fochtman, Staff Photographer

YMCA event will showcase dangers of texting while driving

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Folks who stroll into the D. Bradley McWilliams YMCA at Cypress Creek on Friday will be able to take part in a virtual reality simulation that demonstrates the dangers of texting while driving.

The simulation is put on by AT&T as part of the company's It Can Wait marketing campaign against drivers being distracted by their cell phones and will be at various YMCA locations throughout the Greater Houston area through July 3. While at Conroe Family YMCA Wednesday, AT&T Tour spokesperson Chris Johnson said they had a great turnout of people who took a pledge to never text and drive again.

"The common response we've had is that everybody agrees that distracted driving is never OK," Johnson said. "For a lot of people, they know it's dangerous, but in the moment it's easier to go back to your old ways."

To help show those people the dangers of distracted driving, Johnson and his team place the individual inside a virtual reality machine, complete with goggles and headphones. Once locked in, a computer plays a first-person simulation of a person driving in and through Dallas – but with a constant barrage of text messages to which the driver responds while driving.

After dodging bicyclists, pedestrians and joggers in the road, the driver eventually "crashes" in an intersection.

"You can't be reminded enough," Johnson said. "It's easy to come here and do (the virtual reality machine) and then get the temptation. It's no matter where you go."

Distracted driving soon will be illegal in Texas. Gov. Greg Abbott signed House Bill 62, which made texting while driving (and pretty much doing anything else on your phone while driving) a Class C misdemeanor, similar to a speeding ticket. That law goes into effect Sept. 1.

But AT&T's campaign wants to go further, Johnson said.

"We want to make distracted driving as socially unacceptable as drinking and driving," Johnson said.

The D. Bradley McWilliams YMCA at Cypress Creek is at 19915 Texas 249.

After the D. Bradley McWilliams YMCA, the It Can Wait campaign will be at the following locations: